Growth and yield of winter oilseed rape under strip-tillage compared to conventional tillage

Abstract

Three-year field trials were conducted to compare the effect of three tillage systems: strip-tillage (ST), strip-tillage after mouldboard ploughing (STmp) and conventional tillage (CT) on growth and yield of winter oilseed rape at the experimental station in Červený Újezd, Czech Republic. Compared to CT, the growth of roots and aboveground biomass was slower (significantly thinner root necks, shorter roots and leaves) under ST at the beginning of vegetation (BBCH 14–18). Plants under ST still had significantly thinner root necks, and a lower number of leaves than plants from CT before winter (BBCH 21) but the differences were no longer statistically significant in spring (BBCH 30). Despite a slower start, the ST variant with an average yield of 5.47 t/ha significantly exceeded the CT variant with the yield being 5.06 t/ha. Conversely, plants grown under STmp had significantly longer leaves than those under CT in BBCH 14–18 and with the highest values of all parameters, tended to faster growth of biomass, although the other differences were not statistically significant. No differences were observed between STmp and CT in BBCH 21 and 30. The STmp variant achieved the highest yield 5.53 t/ha, and significantly exceeded the CT variant.